PARIS - Nearly 40 European and North American research institutes will suspend contacts with a leading Iranian think tank that helped organize last week's conference in Tehran of Holocaust deniers, a Paris-based researcher said Saturday.

The institutes, from Warsaw to Washington and beyond, have agreed to suspend ongoing programs with the Iranian Institute for Political and International Studies, or IPIS, according to a statement issued by Francois Heisbourg, who organized the boycott.

They have also refused participation in IPIS meetings or invite IPIS staff to their own forums and to decline travel to Iran sponsored by the Iranian institute.

The December 11-12 conference in Tehran drew Holocaust deniers from around the world to debate whether the World War II genocide of Jews took place. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a keynote speaker, said that Israel will one day be "wiped out" and "humanity will achieve freedom."

The conference drew denunciations from around the world.

Researchers, led by Heisbourg, decided to issue their own form of protest by boycotting the Iranian institute that organized the conference.

"It's the equivalent for us of breaking off diplomatic relations between embassies," Heisbourg said in a telephone interview.

Heisbourg, chairman of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London and president of the Geneva Center for Security Policy, said the IPIS is a touchstone in Iran for foreign researchers.

The statement describes the IPIS as a "mainstream Iranian interface" with foreign think tanks.

Statement of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs concerning the International Conference on the Holocaust, Teheran, 11-12 December 2006

2006.12.13 14:59

On December 11-12, 2006 an International Conference on the Holocaust is being held in Teheran. The event has been organized by the Iranian Foreign Ministrys Institute for Political and International Studies.

In the light of statements on the Holocaust made by prominent Iranians before the conference, it is not unfounded to fear that the event will be used to question the truth about the Shoah. Any attempt at contesting this truth arouses serious concern in Poland, where 6 million people were victims of the Nazi genocide.

In order to guarantee respect for the historic truth, Poland, as well as other countries, must firmly respond to such attempts. We owe the truth about the genocide not only to our citizens but also to the memory of those killed by the Nazis in concentration camps and to their descendants.

Polish authorities have consigned to the Iranian partners a set of information materials from the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Owiêcim. We hoped that would contribute to deepen their knowledge about the tragic historical events in the occupied Poland during the WWII and above all about the greatest genocide and barbarism in human history. Victims of the Nazi regime were mainly Jews from all over Europe, but also Poles and citizens of other countries.

Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses its strong disapproval of the conference, which contradicts the idea of the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust established by the UN General Assembly, and celebrated on 27 January.

Poland highly values its long-term tradition of good relations with Iran and intends to develop them. We wish to help Iran overcome problems that may arouse serious international controversies. We hope that a thorough study of the information materials will allow Iranian scholars to better understand the historic truth, the sensitivity of other nations and their desire that this truth be respected. Such an approach is in line with the Dialogue of Civilizations initiative promoted by Teheran. One of its main guidelines should be the study of the history of different civilizations.

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